IN last week’s elections, the world’s largest democracy – India – booted an economically progressive, peace-seeking government that had supported the United States to a degree unprecedented for New Delhi, and returned a notoriously corrupt party of obsolete demagogues to power.

It was a triumph for democracy, and good news for America.

With Iraq demanding the media’s attention, the slight commentaries on India’s elections thus far have described a strategic setback for America, given the victorious Congress party’s role in forming the anti-American “Non-aligned Movement” half a century ago.

But the Non-aligned Movement is long dead – and it was never more than half alive. Yes, we’ll hear some silly anti-American rhetoric from Congress Party demagogues. But pay attention to what the new government does, not to what it says. Despite the inevitable turbulence attending a change of governments, there is likely to be more continuity in New Delhi than disruption in dealing with the United States.

The current relationship between India and the United States is mutually beneficial, with virtually no downside. The likely new prime minister, Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, is unlikely to kill the goose that keeps laying golden eggs. Expect some feather-plucking in public and some goose-baiting at the United Nations. But don’t expect General Electric to be sent packing from Bangalore.

Analysts have also read the election returns as the vote of an underdeveloped countryside against the techno-privileged boom cities, with their prosperous, envy-inducing mix of saris, jeans and singles’ bars. Such jealousy no doubt shaped part of the vote – even though the poverty level in the countryside has been steadily declining. Trickle-down economics work, but in a country as vast, populous and poor as India, it takes longer than it does on Long Island.

In a sense, the outgoing government was a victim of its success. The techno-boom in cities such as Hyderabad, New Delhi, Chennai/Madras and even vibrant, appalling Mumbai/Bombay has raised expectations and job envy throughout the country. But no political party could deliver progress at a pace sufficient to fully satisfy the country’s pressing needs.

We will likely see continued changes of government as dramatic economic progress nonetheless continues to exclude hundreds of millions of Indians.

Yet, having spent a few months wandering throughout that fascinating country a few years ago, I like to think there was another, crucial factor at work at the polls. The surprise upset of the outgoing government – formed by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – likely also had to do with the disenchantment of India’s burgeoning middle class – the techno-yuppies and entrepreneurs – who were mortified by the anti-Muslim pogroms in the state of Gujarat a few years ago.

Young, educated Indians, especially, felt shamed in the eyes of the world. But the BJP government did virtually nothing to investigate the mass murders or to prosecute those responsible. Instead, the government blamed the victims.

It was a reminder that, for all its liberal economic policies and diplomatic openings, the BJP was grotesquely reactionary on the home front, reigniting not only interfaith but also caste hatreds. The hard-right “Hindutva” or “Hinduness” wing of the BJP is bigoted, ugly and anti-modern, led by ideologues whose extremism is far more dangerous to India and the region than the effete, decayed socialism of the Congress Party.

Yes, the old government opened new doors to cooperation with the United States. Yes, they sought a meaningful peace with Pakistan. Without question, their programs of fostering techno-trade and privatizing moribund state industries were essential. But the hatred they preached in city and village threatened to become a domestic cancer that might have canceled all else.

I believe that some Indians, at least, voted for simple decency. And freedom. And a national unity that includes India’s 150 million Muslims.

The BJP government satisfied our immediate interests. But, for all its other failings, the Congress Party shares far more American values: religious freedom, social equality and big-tent democracy.

India is a remarkable, frustrating, inspiring, infuriating country of almost unlimited human potential. No matter which party takes office in New Delhi, our human ties will continue to expand – to the benefit of all. Indeed, today’s Indian-American community is among the most productive immigrant groups in U.S. history – and the values and possibilities they learn in America are having a positive influence back in India.

Expect occasionally nasty rhetoric from the new government in New Delhi as it reaccustoms itself to holding power in a much-changed world. Like many developing countries, India remains in a political transition phase. The old-guard pols, with their left-wing slogans and grasping paws, need to die off and make room for a new generation of educated technocrats. And they will.

Don’t worry about the return of the Gandhi dynasty. And don’t worry about outdated anti-American rhetoric that may boom from New Delhi. America and India are bound to cooperate. Our futures are intertwined – as the world’s two most populous democracies.

Meanwhile, we Americans should applaud any country with such a long and continuing tradition of open elections. In the end, democracy abroad always benefits the United States – even if the results disappoint us in the short term (as they may do in Iraq).

Against great odds, India has come so far that no government, right or left, will be able to stop its progress. If they try and the Indian economy slows, well, just wait for the next election.

Ralph Peters is the author of “Beyond Terror: Strategy in a Changing World.”